In honor of the new year's zodiac sign, the snake, a zodiac tank will be set up to display striped sea snakes! Creatures with the name "sea snake" include reptile snakes and fish similar to eels. The striped sea snakes on display this time are a "fish." Unlike reptile sea snakes, they have fins and gills on close inspection, do not shed their skin like reptile sea snakes, and do not have sharp fangs or venom. Come and observe the striped sea snakes up close in this tank, where you can enjoy the zodiac signs that only an aquarium can offer♪

The New Year's version of the Dolphin & Sea Lion Ocean Live will feature a calligraphy performance by California sea lions! With New Year's-themed background music, the sea lions will use special calligraphy brushes to write their "New Year's resolutions" and the character for the Chinese zodiac sign of the snake.

To celebrate the new year, a flower arrangement exhibition will be held by high school students from the prefecture. The Contemporary Culture Research Club of Ibaraki Prefectural Oze High School, which will be cooperating with the flower arrangement, is a strong school that won the National High School Flower Arrangement Battle Ibaraki Tournament and has also participated in the national tournament. This will be the first flower arrangement exhibition at our museum in three years since the New Year's event in 2022, and on December 12th, the opening day of the exhibition, you can actually see the flower arrangements that make use of youthful sensibilities and are inspired by Aqua World Oarai.

We will be holding a special program called "Sea Lion's Stroke of Spirit!" where you can experience the powerful brush strokes of a sea lion up close. Guests will hold a colored paper and the sea lion will write the characters directly on it. Guests can choose from about 10 different characters, including this year's zodiac sign "snake," "laugh," and "sea."